Air Attack is a simply stunning shoot 'em up game with fantastic graphics, plentiful amount of levels, and a whopping 58 enemies! Not to mention it has four different controls with the goal of pleasing the player.

Gameplay

Air attack has one game mode with lengthy levels. As soon as you start the game you are presented with a brief explanation of controls. Then you can start blasting away enemy planes. Like all shoot 'em up games, Air Attack offers collectables, power-ups and money as you destroy enemy units. One nice thing about Air Attack is that you can purchase upgrades with the money you collect, and the upgrades include new weapons (powerful cannons, auto targeting missiles, etc.), new planes, extra lives and even wingmen. And for your shopping pleasure, there is a store at every checkpoint. Now that's cool! The more upgrades you buy, the more money you can collect and very soon you are so powerful that you finally can face the boss fights with some confidence.

Not only you will need a strong plane and powerful weapons to face 8 bosses, but you also have 58 different types of enemies to deal with. We are talking about fleets of jets, boatloads of ships, unidentified U.F.O.s, and many other fearsome foes. When you shoot down enemy units, they drop stars that function like score multipliers. If you can manage to grab as many these stars as you can during your hectic mission, you will see your score increase dramatically. Though there isn?t a global scoreboard, the game saves your personal best scores in the highscore menu.

Any top-down shooter gamer knows that the controls of the game will make or break it. Air Attack doesn?t take any chances as it provides 4 control schemes to pick from. They are touch, relative touch, tilt, and joypad. The touch controls allow you to drag your plane to move around by putting your finger right on the plane; and this is the simplest and most responsive control in the game. Relative touch is a tad bit different from touch control: instead of tapping on your plane then dragging, you can tap anywhere on the screen and slide your finger to move your plane. This control is also very easy to use and responsive. Tilt controls let you move your plane by tilting your iDevice, and are a bit hard to use. You can calibrate the tilt sensitivity to suit your style and speed. The last control scheme is the joypad control which proves to be the most difficult to use. You can control the plane using the joypad on the bottom left corner, and the control feels a lot less responsive than the other control styles. To make matters worse the joypad is placed at the bottom left of the screen making it hard to control (unless your left handed). The four different controls make the game easier and allow the player to find their favorite ways to play the game.

Graphics

The 3D graphics in Air Attack look very sharp and colorful. The planes and enemy units have lots of variety so that you don?t feel like fighting the same fights over and over again. Each of the eight levels has different backgrounds with objects rendered well in 3D. There are night and day differences, shadows and waves in the background graphics, demonstrating the attention to details by the developer. There are a lot of stuff going on, like explosions, bullets and missiles flying, etc., but you can see clearly where your planes are and where your enemy planes are, all the while with some scenery down below for your to enjoy. The graphics in Air Attack speak top-notch from in-game visuals to menu screens.

Sound

Air Attacks has serious sounding orchestral song tracks completed with vocal choir pieces. The music doesn?t have a military theme yet it?s oddly immersive and fitting for the gameplay. Though there is no option to play your own iPod music, the in-game music is designed to carry you through the entire game. Sound FX is minimal.

Conclusion

For top-down shooter fans, Air Attack should be on your shortlist game to own. It has awesome gameplay with lots enemies to fight and most of all, fun upgrades and great shopping experience. The visuals are stunning and controls are smooth. Through lengthy 8 levels of dodging and killing, you will have a blast playing Air Attack!

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Graphics: - 5 - Graphics are fantastic with attention to details.Sound: - 4 - Music tracks are nice, sound FX is minimal.Controls: - 5 - With four types of controls, everyone should find something that fits their playing style.Gameplay: - 5 - Lots of enemies, 8 bosses and many upgrades!

Playing Hints and Tips:

-Focus on getting cannon upgrades because the boss will be easier to fight with more destructive cannons .

-If you have enough money then buy an auto targeting rocket because they will automatically go towards the enemy and damage them while you are someplace else.